How are the stem cells removed from the blood?

The blood is filtered through a machine and the stem cells are skimmed off. The removal of the cells is termed pheresis or apheresis (from the Greek "aphairesis" for removal). The stem cells then may be used right away for the transplant or stored suspended in DMSO and frozen in liquid nitrogen until needed.

How is the patient "prepared" for the transplantation?

Before the transplant is done, the patient receives high-dose chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy over several days to destroy diseased cells (the leukemic cells, lymphoma cells, solid tumor cells, the diseased immune system cells in scleroderma, etc.)

How is the transplantation actually done?

Once the chemotherapy is gone, the stem cells are defrosted and returned to the patient as a blood transfusion. They are already biologically programmed to migrate to the bone marrow, where they can produce new blood and immune cells and replace the cells destroyed by the treatment.

The stem-cell preparation is infused into a vein and, once there in the blood stream, the stem cells act like homing pigeons and head straight for the bone marrow space.